


And Sit Awhile With Me

by roseandheather



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Grieving, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 19:06:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6483592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseandheather/pseuds/roseandheather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the six-month anniversary of Gina's death, Leanne finds Ed Harbert exactly where she expected to find him.</p><p>As it turns out, she's exactly what he needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Sit Awhile With Me

He should have known she'd find him.

The grass is starting to carpet the grave now, bright green blades poking up through brown dirt, and he thinks, absurdly, that Gina would have liked the symbolism of it.

New life, out of death.

Leanne approaches quietly, almost tentatively - oddly so, considering that 'tentative' isn't a word he's ever associated with her. But something in his heart sighs in relief as she approaches, and when he speaks, it's without accusation.

"What are you doing here?"

He feels her shrug, even if he doesn't see it. "I thought you could use the company."

He nods, grateful that she's here, and even more so that she doesn't need him to speak again. She settles down beside him, resting one warm hand on his back, and he relaxes a little into the touch.

"I miss her," he admits some time later, into the comfortable - or at least peaceful - silence. "I miss her so much, Leanne."

"I know," she says softly, full of meaning, and the worst of it all is that he knows she _does_ know.

Alarmingly, his throat clogs, and even more when he feels the gentle circles she's rubbing on his back. He shakes his head, terrified of where this is going, but when she speaks Leanne shatters all his defenses.

"Have you had the chance to cry for her?"

He looks around to face her at that, and he can't stop the tears this time.

Not now. Not here. Not with someone who _knows._

She draws him into her arms, gently tucks his face against her shoulder, and cards her fingers through his hair.

It's enough, and more than enough. He starts to cry in earnest then, sobs tearing through his heart and lungs, shaking apart as Leanne holds him together. He cries until there's nothing left to cry, until he's gulping air and every limb is trembling. He cries until his head is pounding and his eyes are sore, until his chest is heaving and his cheeks are raw and chapped with tears. He lets it all go in a flood, because for the first time since he lost the woman he loved, he is _safe._

She holds him like he matters, and for that moment, he is not her boss and they are not on opposite sides of a philosophical tug-of-war. He is not the aloof administrator, and she is not the fiery, dedicated doctor. He is just a man finally grieving his lost lover, and she is just his friend, holding him safe through the storm.

Looking back, he knows that's not the day he falls in love with her. That comes later, when Gina's name is no longer a knife to his ribs, but simply a dull ache in his heart.

But he thinks it probably is the day he first begins to love her.


End file.
